Ariane 5 lofts two long-awaited telecom satellites
Baku, April 6, AZERTAC
According to spacenews.com website, Arianespace on April 5 launched two satellites for telecom operators that for separate reasons were both more than a year behind their original launch schedules.
An Ariane 5 rocket took off at 5:34 p.m. Eastern from the European spaceport in French Guiana, delivering Japanese operator Sky Perfect Jsat’s DSN-1/Superbird-8 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit 28 minutes after liftoff. British fleet operator Avanti’s Hylas-4 satellite separated another six minutes later.
The launch is the 98th launch of an Ariane 5 rocket, and the first since the implementation of more rigorous mission data checking after incorrect inclination data caused a January mission to place two satellites in the wrong orbits.
DSN-1/Superbird-8 was originally scheduled to launch in 2016, but was damaged during transport to the Guiana Space Center, requiring repairs. Japanese satellite manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric built the satellite on its DS2000 platform, with NEC Corp. managing manufacturing. Sky Perfect Jsat’s Superbird-8 replaces the 18-year-old Superbird-B2 satellite at 162 degrees east.
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